Sunday, August 26, 2007

Creationist Essay Winners Versus True Young Scientists

Answers In Genesis has announced its winners in the creationist essay contest for young people. Zeno and Bay of Fundie provide appropriate evaluations of these essays, which meet the predictions we would all expect from homeschoolers and the religiously educated who have been successfully sheltered from actual science. Zeno sums up the expected content of the essays:

While it's not fair to expect teenagers to write purely original essays, all of the winning papers suffer from the suffocating effects of their reliance on recycled creationist propaganda. Time and again the writers make demonstrably untrue statements (and they probably don't know any better). In this, of course, they simply mirror their elders.

Through random chance (or should I attribute it to divine intervention?) the very antithesis of an Answers In Genesis sponsored essay contest also published their winners this year. In my current issue of Natural History (arriving the day I first learned of the AIG essay winners) the American Museum of Natural History also announced its 2007 Young Naturalist Awards winners. From the article:

Every year scientists from the American Museum of Natural History travel far and wide on expeditions to learn more about the natural world. The Young Naturalist Awards, now in its tenth year, invites students in grades 7-12 throughout the United States and Canada to follow in those footsteps, embarking on their own expeditions in areas of biology, Earth science, or astronomy. Their research can be conducted as to home as their backyard or a local pond or stream.

This year's Young Naturalist Award winners are:Ashley Hunt (Grade 7) - Algae in theWeiva River: Is it Helping or Hurting Water Quality?Noah McDonald (Grade 7) - The Toads of Delaware CountyAlexandria Day (Grade 8) - An Analysis of Water Quality on the Severn River over Two YearsRyan Wham (Grade 8) - Lighter, Brighter, and Cooler: An Analysis of the Effects of Roofing Albedo on Ambient TemperatureAlex Nagler (Grade 9) - Investigation of Water Quality in Mercer County LakeJon Atkinson (Grade 9) - Barn Owls on the Side of the RoadViola Li (Grade 10) - From the Desert to the Subalpine ForestNikola Champlin (Grade 10) - Thigmomorphogenesis in Pisum Tendril DevelopmentAnastasia Roda (Grade 11) - Human Factor IV: The Impact of a Boiling Water Nuclear Reactor on the Plankton, Benthic, and Biofouling Communities in the Reactor's Intake and Discharge CreekArjun Potter (Grade 11) - A Survey of the Birds of Indroda Nature Park in Gujarat, IndiaJoanna Nishimura (Grade 12) - More Than Meets the Eye: Do Himasthlasp. B Cercariae Use Chemo-orientation?Jeremy Koelmel (Grade 12) - Lichens as Indicators of Vehicle PollutionMore on the contest winners may be found here.

The distinction betwee these kids and the winners of the AIG creationist contest is quite clear. The Young Naturalist winners followed the dictates of science by asking questions, gathering data and then reporting on where those data led them in their interpretation. The ground rules of the contest made this quiet clear:

After identifying a question, students plan how they will gather information, conduct outside research to learn more about their topic and possible methodologies, observe their subjects, and record their findings. Finally, their data analysis results in conclusions that either answer the original questions or lead to further inquiry.

By contrast, the AIG essay contest winners had already determined their conclusions before even beginning any research. Research was largely confined to those sources that already agree to their position and anything presented in alternate sources was either falsified, mischaracterized or the data ignored so that the biblical mythology could be upheld.

You can download the January-March 2008 issue from:http://scienceandscientist.org/current.php

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What's it about?

Modern science has generally been directed toward investigatingthe material world, excluding consideration of the consciousscientist who is essential to the whole process, since, ofcourse, the very existence of the scientific endeavor itself depends upon consciousness. Complete scientific knowledge mustconsequently include both objective science and subjectiveconsciousness.

In addition to other programs, Bhaktivedanta Institute's Scienceand Scientist Newsletter is humbly offered to inspire scientistsand scholars to contribute their sincere efforts towarddeveloping this grand synthesis. The result will be valuable not only for helping to better understand the "hard" problems ofscience such as the nature and origin of life and the cosmos, themind-brain connection, artificial intelligence, etc. But thepressing problems of ethics in science, world peace, and interfaith dialog will also benefit from a more inclusivescientific worldview.

In our modern era science and religion are the predominatinginfluences determining the fate of mankind. Promoting anddeveloping a culture of harmony between such diverse fields hasthe potential to expand our conception of reality and advance human knowledge in the new millennium, in which it is said the study of life will be pre-eminent. Let us welcome the dawn ofthat new epoch with great hope and determined endeavor.______________________________ ______________________________ __

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About Me

Christopher O'Brien is an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Chico and Adjunct Faculty at Lassen Community College, Susanville. His day job is as the Forest Archaeologist for Lassen National Forest in northern California. He received his BS in Anthropology from the University of California-Davis and a MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently working on the zooarchaeology of several cave and rockshelter sites in northern California, and the historical ecology of several species. He has also been directing archaeological excavations in western Tanzania since 2002.
Views expressed on these pages are those of the writer and do not reflect those of the US Forest Service or any other land management agency except where explicitly indicated and where that view has been made public by the agency itself. I support the US Forest Service's mission; to me, the concepts of the USFS are a creed, sacred, and I feel a duty to pass on my concerns to anyone who'll listen. Any criticisms I advance stem from concern and hope.